The family goat farm at Vlčí Vrch, in the heart of the White Carpathians, represents for many the ideal of the relationship between man – farmer and landscape. Ivana Kodajová and her partner Max discovered this place in the Horná Súča years ago and decided to live here. The landscape enchanted them. At first they started to keep animals for their own use. Coincidentally, their paths crossed with the conservationists at the time when the restoration of several neglected areas was starting to protect some butterfly species. It was here that goat grazing was the most ideal solution; the more they understood the context of the landscape, the more their goat herd grew.

Today there are nearly 70 dairy goats, also buck, kids, young and old goats. The rearing technique is close to the natural needs of the animals. The goats graze freely on herbs, grass and flowers all day long, so their milk does not have such a strong, specific goat’s taste. Under the hands of skilful farmers, delicacies such as goat’s curd, ripened cheeses of many kinds, as well as ‘goat brandza’ and ‘vlčina’, similar to classic cow’s milk products, but in a healthier form, are produced here. The farm has regular customers, and every Friday they make deliveries to Trenčín, with stopovers in several villages.

After many years of management by the State Nature Conservancy, the Administration of the White Carpathians Protected Landscape Area, which substituted for the missing work of the farmers, the continuity of the traditional management was interrupted. The goats from Vlčí Vrch thus graze in the protected landscape area, also on the rare and species-rich White Carpathian meadows. They directly contribute to the maintenance of high biodiversity.

Ivana grazes her animals on an area of around 13 ha. This is divided into 5 pastures and grazed according to different criteria. She also grazes on very rare areas, e.g. UEV Stehlíkovské and UEV Lipníkovské. Both areas are part of the European network of protected sites Natura 2000. Here, endangered butterflies of the genus Maculinea, which are linked by their development to the Sanguisorba officinalis, are found. That is why goats are not allowed here while Sanguisorba officinalis is flowering and producing seeds. This sensitivite approach is evident at first sight.

The diversity of the landscape and its rich variety is often tied precisely to places where people live with the landscape at a slower pace, as our ancestors once did. They shaped the image of the landscape that we know from the White Carpathians. The Vlčí Vrch Goat Farm is one of the continuators of this tradition.

For further information:
Ivana Kodajová
ivanakodajova@gmail.com
+421 907 597 720
website: https://www.vlcivrch.sk